Field of the Disclosure
The present disclosure generally relates to reverse cementation of a liner string for formation stimulation.
Description of the Related Art
Hydraulic fracturing (aka hydrofracking or fracking) is an operation for stimulating a subterranean formation to increase production of formation fluid, such as crude oil and/or natural gas. A fracturing fluid is pumped into the wellbore to initiate and propagate fractures in the formation, thereby providing flow channels to facilitate movement of the formation fluid into the wellbore. The fracturing fluid is injected into the wellbore under sufficient pressure to penetrate and open the channels in the formation. The fracturing fluid injection also deposits proppant in the open channels to prevent closure of the channels once the injection pressure has been relieved.
In a staged fracturing operation, multiple zones of a formation are isolated sequentially for treatment. To achieve this isolation, a liner string equipped with multiple fracture valves is deployed into the wellbore and set into place. A first zone of the formation may be selectively treated by opening a first of the fracture valves and injecting the fracturing fluid into the first zone. Subsequent zones may then be treated by opening the respective fracture valves. The fracture valves include open hole packers for isolating the zones from each other. The open hole packers are used instead of conventional forward cementation of the liner string to avoid the risk of fouling the fracture valves with cement.